By Greg Blake
Perhaps it’s the sea views on the drive east along Beach Road or when cresting the Westgate Bridge from the west that always make games at Port Melbourne’s Plummer Street home feel a little different. Alexander’s final round 2-2 draw away against the Sharks was bizarre enough, but not out of place on what might be dubbed surreal Saturday.
Everything seemed on script when Bul Juach gave Heidelberg United a deserved 1-0 lead midway through the first half, Asahi Yokokawa cutting the ball back from deep right and the bobble sitting superbly for Juach to swot home his 20th league goal of the campaign and secure the 2025 Golden Boot award.
What followed was a shoot-out of sorts, with Port claiming the lead with goals on either side of half time, before Yokokawa nailed an equaliser with a quarter hour of the season remaining.
It’s the sea views talking I’m sure, but unlike any other game this season this one devolved into something akin to a Spanish galleon and British frigate exchanging long distance cannon shots on the high seas three centuries ago.
Anthony Lesiotis set the tone on 36 minutes, letting fly with a gorgeous bomb from a distance only to be denied by a full-stretch leap to guard his far post top corner by Port keeper, Luka Romic.
Lesiotis curled another centimetres over the bar before the break, by which time the Sharks had levelled at 1-1 on 43 minutes. A Ben Collins stumble on the treacherous surface and Anthony Leban pounced on the turnover, spotted Yaren Sozer off his line and looped in the equaliser from the half way line.
According to the stats Port only had three shots on goal for the day, but they went big on two of them, starting the second half as they had finished the first and hitting the scoreboard with a belter from long range. This time it was Jonathon Vakirtsis on the money and the Sharks, who hadn’t won at home since forever, bunkered down and opted for kicking and screaming their way towards relegation, rather than rolling over.
Getting masses behind the ball and defending astutely frustrated the Warriors, with Yokokawa’s pressure-relieving equaliser yet another effort from distance which was deflected past Romic to ensure second spot on the ladder and an automatic home semi final.
Jay McGowan smacked one off Romic’s crossbar, whilst Collins, Raffie and Aidara all did their best to sink the Sharks, but come day’s end it didn’t matter a jot and the top six ended the day exactly as they had started it.
As for surreal Saturday, I enjoy perpetual underachievers Port Melbourne, ever since the free-scoring Takis Svigos-coached Sharks bounced into the top flight in 1994. At that very same time in the mid 1990’s, the mighty Melbourne Knights were at their mightiest and kings of the national competition of the time.
As the rock-bottom 2025 Knights capitulated meekly at home to Altona Magic on Saturday the melancholia kicked in and it was surreal to process that a day such as this might ever, would ever, could ever come about.
Not a soul had the prescience to foresee not only the demise of the Knights, but how Alexander’s 2-3 loss at Knights Stadium on the opening weekend of the 2025 season would impact Heidelberg United’s premiership bid many months later?
As for the Warriors, convince m that the premiership wasn’t decided in a manner, let’s say, most unconvincing. But second spot and a season of spellbindingly beautiful football has its own rewards. An Australia Cup semi final plus NPL finals still to come, Alexander is now confirmed as a starter in the inaugural Australian Championship as well.
Grouped in with Marconi, Wollongong Wolves and the Tassie champs, Heidelberg’s first game is set for for October 12, at home versus Marconi. So, the hellish six games in 21 days schedule is done and dusted. More games to come, better weather too, so much to anticipate. Oh, and did I mention that we’ve got a bloody good team to watch? I didn’t? Well, this 2025 team is good, as in very bloody. Warrior Nation!
